Fishing-reel.



G. E. MATTS.

FISHING REEL.

LPPLIOA'HOI nun In. so, 1008.

900,563. r v Patented 0011.6, 1908.

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FISHING REEL. APPLIOATIOH FILED 143.30, 1900.

900,5 3, I Patented 0013.6, 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

GEORGE EDWARD MATTS, or NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

FISHING-REEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 6, 1908.

Application filed March so, 1908. Serial No. 424,100.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. MATTS a citizen of the United States, residing at 599 Fifteenth avenue, Newark, county of Essex, and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fishing-Reels, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

The present invention relates to 'a reel having a cage to contain the spool with heads upon the ends of the cage to support the pivots of the spool-spindle, and having gearing with a crank-shaft upon one of the headsto rotate the spool.

The improvements consist in the combina tion and arrangement of parts hereinafter set forth and described, and which will be understood by reference to the annexed drawing, in which Figure 1 is a side view of the reel with the crank-head detached; Fig. 2 is a side view of the crank-head; Fig: 3 is a longitudinal section of the reel greatly enlarged; Fig. 4 shows an alternative construction for the flange on the head; Fig. 5 is an end view of the crank-head upon the inner side; Fig. 6 is a similar view of the opposite head; Fig. 7 is an end view of the hub on the click-carrying head; Fig. 8 shows a plan of the key-plate for the movable spring-bearing; and Fig. 9 shows the end of the reel-cage, as represented in Fig. 1, with the latch-block adjacent to the bayonet slot and a section of the head 0 outside of the same, such section taken just inside the flange j.

a designates a cage formed of tubing with openings for the play of the fishline; b designates the head containing the click-pawl and carrying the spring-bearing; c designates the crank-head having the crank-bearing (Z thereon with crankshaft e therein, upon the outer end of which the crank-arm f is secured and provided with handle 9.

The inner end of the crank-sl'iaft is connected by the usual gear-wlmels h with the spindle i. of the spool. The spindle has journals upon its opposite ends, one of which has a fixed bearing 0 in the head 0, which bearing is closed at the outer end to form a step and resist any end movement of the spindle. The head 0 is shown with a cylind rival flange j, and the adjacent end of the cage (1. is rabbcted to receive such flange [lush with its outer surface. The flange is made slightly wider shown in Figs. 3 and 9, andis secured upon' rabbeted end of the cage b a bayonet-lock consisting of two bent slots and .pins 1. The.

open end of the slot forms a notch to engage a catch-pin upon the removable head a for locking the head to the cage. Such a notch is claimed herein in combination with a latchblock and a catch-pin which will be hereinafter described.

In Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the slots are formed upon the cage and the pins upon the cylindrical flange; but in Fig. 4, an alternative construction is shown, in which the flange fits inside of the cage and is provided with the bayonet-slots, the pins Z being projected from the inner side of the cage near its end to engage such slots. The slots. are slightly inclined from the end of the cage as shown in Fig. 1 so as to ress the pins inwardly'and draw the head 0 ose upon the cage.

The head is provided with a knurled collar 0" upon its outer corner to turn it in engaging the ba onet-lock, and the sloping of the bayonet-s ot operates to draw the end of the cylindrical flange shown in Figs. 2 and 9, close to the end of the rabbet a shown in Fig. 1, i

or to draw the knurled collar close against the end of the cage in the construction shown in Fig. 4. v a

Two of the bayonet-locks are shown in Fig. 5, but not set opposite to one another, which thus enables the user to always secure the head upon the cage in the same position.

To prevent the head 0 being turned accidentally and thus loosening the bayonetlocks, a sliding latch-block m is fitted through a slot in the flange j and lies upon the inner side of the head 0. The latchblock lies adjacent to one of the pins 1, as shown in Figs. 5 and 9, and the slot through which the latch-block plays is formed flush with the inner side of the head 0 so that the latch-block may slide upon the head. The

tail of the latch-block is provided with a slot n, and a screw it is fitted through the same into the head 0 to hold the latch-block movably in the slot of the flange A leaf-spring 7) bent into semi-circular fonn is inserted inside the flange j and one end engaged with the latch-block while the other end presses against the flange at the opposite side of the head. T he spring is thus held in place by its own resiliency and operates to ress the latch-block outward. The latchlock by this construction lies in contact with the outer end of the cage, as shown in Fig. 9, when the bayonet locks are e aged, and a catch in 0 1s projected laterally from the latchlock toward the end of the ca e to engage the open end of the bayonet slbt k. When the catch-pin is thus engaged, its con tact with the inner sideof the flange 7' determines its rojection from the flange 7' or above the co ar e. The catch-pin is thus arranged to engage one end of the bayonetslot when its enga g pin Z has been moved to the inner end 0 the slot, the engagement of the catch-pin at the outer end of the slot then reventing the head 0 from being turned to re ease thesame. .B outer end of the latch-b 0c in opposition to the spring 19, the catch-pin o is forced in from the end of the bayonet-slot and the head can be rotated and detached.

In a plying the head to the 'cage, the latch-b ock is pressed inwardly by the finger and the catch-pin 0 thus pressed within the ca e-until the bayonet locks are engaged.

en the pins 1 are fully turned into the bayonet slots 70 the catch-pin o springs automatically into the open end of the adjacent bayonet slot. *The projection of the latchblock above the surface of the flange 9' or collar 0 enables the fisherman to readily find the same and exert the necessary pressure to detach the catch-pin from the slot 7c when he desires to removethe reel-head. The construction is strong anddurable and is not liable to be obstructed in its operation by dirt or grit which may reach the outside of the reel. A counterbalance-arm. g is comit to the requir monly extended from the crank-arm f and has a counterbalance weight secured thereto which is pro ortioned, as nearly as possible, to balance t e crank-arm and handle; but in practice, it is found'diificult to secure an exact balance, as the weight-has to be actually altered in its bulk :to modify its effect. An unequal movement of the crank is thus often occasioned in a fishing reel; and to avoid this difficult in the manufacture and use of fishing reel I rovide a means of varying the effect of V 6 same counterbalance we' ht by forming a .slot 1' in the counterb ance arm and securing a weight g adjustably .u on'such .arm by a screw r inserted throng the slot, which permits the weight to be Inovedinward and outward upon the arm until an exact balance is secured. Such movement is, in ractice, effectedby st the weight lightly to shift position'and then securing itfirmly by ti htening the screw. This device is cheap ut' very efficient and secures .the most perfect operation of the reel.

The spool is formed with a sleeve 8 secured upon a spindle 'i and shouldered down at the ends to receive hubs s, which are firmly held upon the hub by upsetting or riveting the projecting ends of the sleeve ressing upon thev upon the outer sides of such hubs, leaviw such ends rojecting sufliciently to be trued again in a athe and the centers of the spoolflan es t fitted. upon them.

T e inner sides of the flanges are fitted snugly to the faces of the hubs and to the ends of the sleeve and soldered thereon, and the ends of the sleeve are finally riveted over the outer sides of the flanges to reinforce the soldered connection. The spool is thus formed of five pieces, the sleeve, the two hubs and the two flan es, which are all secured to ether most firinfy.

A drag or the spool has sometimes been furnished by using a screw to pres." one of the s indle bearings against the end of the spind e, but a very shght pressure greatly varies the friction upon the spindle and the roper adjustment of such a screw is therefore diflicult. To avoid such obj ectional use of a screw, I furnish one of the end bearings with a spring which 0 crates, when adjusted, to press the bearing e astically upon the end of the spindle, and which spring is adjusted by a screw-ca and operates normally to hold the spind e from rattling, or so-called whistling, by end movement.

The construction will be understood by reference to Figs. 3, 7 and 8, in which 11. is a hub secured u on the head I) and having a cylindrical sociiet with a smooth cylindrical ste -block 11. fitted snu ly to slide therein an receiving the journ l at the end of the spindle z. A keyway 'v is formed inside the socket and a tongue or'projection is revided u on the step-block to fit such e way and hold the step-block from rotation. Such tongue is conveniently formed by roviding a stud '11, upon the outer end of the step-block, and riveting thereon a late '0 formed with tongue 02 to enga e t e keyway. The exterior of the hub 1s threaded, and a screw-cap w is threaded internally to turn, upon the same and provided inside with a central stud i0 upon which a spiral spring a: is fitted to o erate u on the ste b ock by contact Wit the p ate '0'. T10 spring is so proportioned that its pressure upon the step block can be wholly removed by partly unscrewing the cap w, and can be brought into action u on the step-block and the pressure gradua y increase b screwing up the cap. The spring pro uces an elastic pressure of the step-block u upon the pivot of the spindle t which is wholly diferent from the rigid pressure of an adjusting screw, and the ad ustment and varying of such elastic pressure can thus be effected by turning the cap and the most delicate restraint exerted upon the end movement of the spool without producing any appreciable friction.

When a drag u on the spool is desired, the cap can be turned to increase the friction to the desired degree.

It will be seen from the above description that the stepsblock is, in practice, operated with a, constant elastic pressure upon the end of: the journal and that such pressure is readily varied by turning the ca .'w to produce the various effects desired: the step block being held from rotation, WhiClllS necessary to form; a suitable bearing for the s indle. Such constant elastic pressure of tje step=blook necessitates an abutment opposed to such pressure at the opposite end of the s indle, and such abutment is formed by the bearing which is constructed to fit the end of the 8 ndie and is thus adapted to resist the en 1 thrust of the spring-step.- blocku'. ,1

A click-wheel y is shown upon the end of the spool within the head I) and the usual click y pivoted upon a radially sliding stud y havinga knob g upon the outer end, as-is common, to move the click into and out of engagement with theclick-wheel.

"A wire spring has commonly been used, bent intocircular form and secured within the head I; with its opposite ends in contact with the opposite si es of the click; but a round wire is capable of yielding in one direction as another, and does not therefore remainjin contact with the side of the click; and it is therefore not unusual for such a wire spring to slip outward from the head and over the outer side of the click, instead of maintaining its pressure upon the opposite edges of the click, as required.

I have devised an improved click-spring formed of a double armed flat leaf-spring zbent into circular form, with the ends of the leaf-arms ap lied to the opposite sides of v the click, an having an integral foot a bent ends of its arms and secure to the inner side of the reel-head by a screw 2 and oper-' ating to hold the front leaf edgewise'or transat right'angles to the leaf epposite to the verse to the head so that the arms maintain their position next to the head, but yield readily to the pressure of the click. The

click-spring is thus effectively held from dislacement without'losing any of its flexibility and freedom to y eld. In fact, the

spring-leaf is widest transversely to the head,

which enables it to strongl reslst an movement outward from the l iead which allow it to slip over the front of the click into. an inoperative position, and is thinnest in the direction in which it is pushed by the click so that it yields freely to the movements of the click. The leaf-spring is thus peculiarly adapted to resist an; displacem'ent edgewise which could disengage it from the edges of the click.

The latch-block which I employ to lock the removable head upon the cage of the reel is, in practice, very durable and eflicient and far more satisfactory than a spring-pin projected through the flange of the head could into a, perforation through the cage, and the s ring step-block which I provide for one end o? the spindle furnishes a su port for the journal which is wholly free om lost motion, and which can be instantaneously converted into a drag when desired.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention what is claimed herein is: V

1. In a reel, the combination, with a cage having a spool therein and a notch upon the extreme end of the cage, of a flat head 0 having a cylindrical flange fitted to the end of the 5 cage adjacent said notch, and a slot through the flange flush with the inner flat side of the head, means to engage the flange and cage, a radially moving latch-block m fitted through the slot in the flange and held movably upon the inner flat side of the head,

a catch-pin 0 pro'ected from the side of the block to engage t e notch in the end of the cage and limit the outward movement of the latch-block, and a spring operating upon the latch-block to press the same normally outward. I

2. In a reel, the combination, with the tubular cage (1 having a spool therein and pro.- vided with the bayonet slots is opening upon the end of the cage, of a flat head 0 having a cylindrical flan e fitted to the end of the cage and provic ed with the pins 1 to engage such bayonet slots, the head having a slot through the flange adjacent one of the ins Z and flush with the inner flat side of the ead, the latch-block m fitted through the said slot and having the slot n in its tail with the screw n fitted through the same into the head to hold the latch-block 'movably, the catch-pin 0 projected from the latch-block in a sultable position to engage the outer end of the bayonet slot when engaged by the adjacent Z, and the curved wire-spring p lnserte within the flange and extended around the same to hold itself in place, and one end engaged with the latch-block to press the same normally outward to engage the pin 0 with the outer end of the bayonet slot, the outer end of the latch-block projecting above the flange when the in is thus engaged, so that the latch-bloc r may be pressed inwardly to remove the pin from the ayonet slot. 4

3. In a fishing reel, the combination, with a cage, and a spool having a spindle with journals at the ends, of the head 0 at one end of the cage havin the end bearing 0? for one of the journals, t e head I) at the opposite end of the cage having a hub uwith a sockettherein, and the means for pressing the spindle elastically toward the end bearing 0 consisting of the step-block u fitted to slide in the socket without rotation and fitted also -to the journal u on the spindle, means for pressin the steplock elastically toward the end of t e journal, and means for readily varying such elastic pressure.

'4. In a fishing reel, the combination, with a cage, and a spool havin a spindle with journals at the ends, of the ead c at one end of the cage havin the end bearing a for one of the journals, t e head 6 at the o posite end of the cage having a hub u threa ed externally and having a smooth cylindrical socket therein with keyway c at one side, the smooth cylindrical step-block 'u/ fitted to said socket and 'ournal and having tongue '0 to engage the 'lceyway, and the ca w fitted to turn u on the threaded hub an havin the centra stud w with spiral spring fitted t ereon and pressed u on the end of the stepblock by a suitab e adjustment of the cap and thereby enabled to prevent lost motion or form a drag upon the s 001, such elastic pressure being resisted by t e end bearing a.

5. In a fishing reel, the combination, with a cage, and a spool having a spindle with journals at the ends, of the head a at one end of the cage having the end bearing 0 for one of the journals, the head I; at the 0 posite end of the cage having a hub u threaded externally and having a smooth cylindrical socket therein with keyway v at one side, the smooth cylindrical step-block u fitted to said socket and journal and provided with the stud u upon its outer end, the plate '0 secured upon the stud u and formed with tongue 01 to en age the keyway, the hub having an adjusta le cap'w thereon with spring pressed by the same against the plate 0) to vary the pressure of the step-block upon the journal, such pressure being resisted by the end bearin c.

6. In a fishing reel, the combination, with a head having a crank-shaft with bearing to rotate the s 001, and a crank-arm f upon the outer end 0' the crank-shaft with handle to rotate the same, of a counterbalance arm extended from the crank-arm and provided near the outer end with the radial slot 1', and a counterbalance Weight g fitted upon the flat side of such counterbalance arm, with screw 1" inserted through the slot securing the weight adjustably upon the arm.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE EDWARD MATTS. Witnesses:-

GEORGE A. RAYNOR, ALTA MOYER TAYLOR. 

